Please Review! I want to know what you guys think!

Author's note will be at the end o_o

Chapter 21

"James… James! Come on mate… wake up."

The aching pain- the throb in his head… it was almost too much but… it wasn't. It wasn't. Everything flooded back into his mind and the boy's hazel eyes snapped open as the realization hit him. The attack. The attack on Diagon Ally.

He shot up and regretted it almost immediately as nausea ran through him. Hands grabbed his shoulders steadying him and he looked up to see the other three marauders staring at him. They looked almost as bad as he felt.

"Steady now. You must have hit your head really hard." Remus mumbled and helped him to his feet.

James' eyes scanned the area and he felt his stomach sink. Diagon Ally was a wreck. There was rubble everywhere along with bodies. Aurors were walking around gathering up the fallen death eaters and Healers were helping the wounded. Like the building behind him, the majority of them had fallen- some still on fire even. Diagon Ally- the place where most people came to get away… was a wreck.

James swallowed thickly as his eyes scanned the fallen bodies. The war was real. He knew that of course but this… this brought it closer to him and his family. Just like the war had been brought to Rory's….

Rory.

"Where is she?" His voice was rough as he spoke- he looked over at the other boys and watched as Sirius' face paled. No… no.

Panic filled his body as he looked around them- looked around through the rubble. Both of them had been knocked out when the explosion happened- he had even saw her body get flung back… but where was she? Where was she?

"You lost her?" Sirius' voice was tight and James stared at his friend, unable to move. "Where is she!?"

Before he could do anything, Sirius flung himself at the boy, causing both of them to stumble back into one of the walls. Sirius grabbed onto James' shirt tightly and shook the boy- tears welling up in his eyes. As much as he didn't want to admit it- James' eyes were starting to sting as well.

"She was with me… she was with me when everything was going around. She has to be here somewhere." James gasped and watched as Peter and Remus snuck off towards the healers. He looked back at his friend and saw the anguish in his eyes.

"Why didn't you hid her? Why didn't you try and make her leave?" Sirius' voice cracked as he spoke and James grabbed onto his arms, grip tight.

"She wanted to fight. She wouldn't leave I tried… I tried."

Tears were now running down both of their faces. Guilt was heavy in James' stomach as he realized what could have happened to Rory. To the girl he spent with for the last year. She couldn't be dead… She couldn't be.

Sirius' body shook and he let go of James, shoving the boy back as he sunk to the ground. The marauder ran his hands down his face, mumbling under his breath as he said in the rubble, ignoring the glass that was sinking into his legs.

James stared at him, not ready to move to the comfort the boy. His body was frozen as his mind raced. She couldn't be gone… there was no possible way.

"Nobody's seen her."

James looked up at Remus as he approached- a somber look on his face. The werewolf looked worse for wear and from the defeated expression he held… there was no denying what he had just said.

"You're lying."

All three boys looked down at Sirius who was still on the ground- his face in his hands. James couldn't help but to shake his head at that- the pain growing greater as he looked down at his friend. This couldn't be happening… She had to be here somewhere.

"Sirius I'm not-"

"You're lying!"

The dark haired boy shot to his feet and grabbed for the werewolf- his eyes red as he continued to sob. James grabbed onto the boy before he could attack their friend and struggled to hold his arms down. Sirius struggled against James- yelling obscenities at all of them.

As much as James didn't want to accept the fact… he had to. She was gone. She was gone and there's nothing that they could do about it.

"It's my fault." James' heart stopped as the words left Sirius' mouth. The boy stopped struggling against him and let his body go limp. As broken as he had seen his friend before… he had never seen Sirius like this.

"It's my fault… It's all my fault."

The two boys sunk to the ground and James kept his grip on Sirius, trying to comfort his friend despite how broken he felt inside.

Sirius kept on mumbling 'it's my fault' under his breath as his body shook with tears. As much as James wanted to understand what he was talking about… he didn't get it. And it looked like the other marauders didn't either.

The only thing that James knew was that things were going to change… and there was nothing that he could do about it.

Nobody wanted to tell Lily what had happened. Nobody wanted to tell Alice, or Marlene, or Rory's family even. It ended up being Mr. Potter who told Rory's family and the other's discovered what had happened thanks to the Daily Profit.

Rory's name was one of the ten people that had gone missing. Almost all of them had been people of power- people that could benefit the dark side. All of them had been besides her.

The boys all stayed at James' house- none ever going out. Sirius locked himself in his room, refusing to speak to anyone while Remus and Peter tried to comfort James. None of the boys had seen Sirius get that bad before. He wasn't that bad when he would get into fights with his family, when he realized that his brother was going to be a death eater. He wasn't even that bad when he finally ran away from home… but now he was at his worse and that created worry within the marauders. None of them knew what to do.

Mrs. Potter was doing everything she could to help the boys out but that was difficult to do when she was exhausted from having Mr. Potter out all of the time, him being in the middle of the war.

Mr. Potter was tracking the death eaters, trying to find the missing people and all death eaters who had been involved. This meant that nights were long for him and there were some times where he didn't even go home.

As much as the auror didn't want to admit it, he was going mad looking for the girl. The girl who he had bonded with. He remembered saving her after the attack on his family. He remembered how broken she looked and how relieved he was to see that she was alive. He worried about her healing but once he found out she was in fact the girl dating James, he knew that she was in good hands.

He thought she was going to be much worse- PTSD was common in the victims from death eater attacks. Not many survived but from what he had seen- all of them had it. And while he could see that the pain was there, he knew that his boys were helping her out and for that he was forever grateful.

But now she was missing. And that alone made his heart ache.

"There's still no sign of her?" The words left her mouth the moment she saw the boys. Lily, like everyone else looked like a wreck. The attack and their missing friend was putting a strain on all of them.

"It's been five days now and nothing." Mr. Potter said slumping down at the table while the other boys took their seats. The five of them had decided to meet at the Three Broomsticks for lunch and Mr. Potter joined to take a break from his work.

Lily sighed and let her body slump up against the table. James wrapped his arm around her in a comforting manor while Sirius just shook his head, his fists clenched as he sat there. The boy thought that this was all ridiculous- the waiting. He just wanted to get up and find Rory but he knew that it wasn't possible. It wasn't something that he could do.

That type of thinking was why Rory was gone in the first place. Sirius had trained her- thinking that she wouldn't actually fight. It wasn't until a few lessons in did he realize that she was serious. Had Sirius refused to train her…they wouldn't be in this mess. She would be safe by his side and not… missing. She wouldn't be gone and this was all of his fault. It wasn't fair.

"Sirius- snap out of it mate."

Remus shook his arm and the animagus looked up at the group before looking back down at the glass of butterbeer resting in his hands. This waiting was killing him.

"We just have to-"

Mr. Potter stopped mid sentence causing Sirius' head to snap up. There heading towards them was a silver streak. It wasn't until it stopped did he realize what it was. The patronus looked around the group before stopping in front of the auror. The white fox opened his mouth and a voice came pouring out.

"We've got a lead. 3451 Otterpond. Head there immediately."

The patronus disappeared into mist and Mr. Potter shot to his feet, wand in his hand.

"Apparate home now. I've got to go." He said to the kids and was already spinning on his heal when there was a heavy weight pulling on him.

The feeling of being compressed disappeared and stumbled trying to regain his balance. Looking down he saw that James and Sirius were on their feet, both looking nauseous.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked, his voice hard as they jumped to their feet. Sirius was about to respond when the elder Potter cut him off. "It doesn't matter. Stay here and do not move. You two are in big trouble when you get home."

The man marched into the house leaving the two teens behind. There was a moment of silence as the two of them stood there- unsure as to what to do.

"Remus is going to kill us." James said straightening his glasses and Sirius nodded, a grim look on his face.

"Your mum's going to kill us as well. You grabbed on because…"

"What if she's inside." James finished.

Both of the boys stared at each other before nodded- thinking the same thing. Almost in sync, they pulled their wands out and started to creep towards the house.

The door was hanging off of its hinges, a large boot mark on it. The main room had papers everywhere, the whole room was torn apart and a complete wreck. There were dark objects scattered and what looked like potion ingredients all over the floor.

James looked up at Sirius, his grip on his wand tight. Footsteps coming from the basement caught the boys' attention and very slowly- the two of them started to make their way down the stairs.

"Fuck…. Fucking hell." Mr. Potter's voice drifted to the stair well and James' stomach sank. There was a loud crash which was followed by more swearing from his father.

The two crept towards the bottom of the stairwell and continued to listen to the auror.

"Expecto Patronum. Send this to Mad-Eye." They heard him mumble. "The lead has been accurate. Come to the location immediately. I've found the girl."

James spun around to Sirius but the boy was already stumbling out of his hiding place- towards where his father was. He tried to catch the boy but he was already gone. James scrambled after him- and while he almost didn't want to see what was going on… he had to.

The smell hit him first. The rotting- absolutely horrid smell. His stomach churned as he looked at the unfinished basement. There was blood everywhere. Smeared on the walls- covering the floor. It was a wreck.

Sirius being held in Mr. Potter's arms. Being held back from something while the boy sobbed- saying things that James couldn't understand. This couldn't be happening… His eyes traveled down and he felt his world collapsing. He felt like he wasn't alive.

Lying in front of them was a body. A body almost covered in too many cuts, too many scratches, and too much blood. There was almost no possible way that they could be alive. Their clothes were torn to rags, barely covering the body. They were just lying there… broken…

James' legs gave out from underneath him and he fell to the ground. No… no, no, no, no, no. this couldn't be happening. That couldn't be her. It could have been anybody right? There were other people that the Death Eaters could have caught. There was no way that this could be her.

"It's not her." James sobbed- disbelief ringing through him despite the feeling in his stomach. "It's not her. It can't be her. It can't be."

He started to crawl forwards towards the body, trying to decipher what was going on. The more he looked at the face… the more it looked like her.

Despite the blood and cuts, James was able to recognize her. The nose that he played with all of the time… the full lips that he kissed probably about a thousand times…. The cheeks that blushed whenever they did anything. It was her. It was her.

"Rory…" he mumbled- his vision blurring from the tears that were running down his face. He ignored his father's protests as he pulled her head into his lap. Ignoring the blood that he was getting on his hands. Ignoring it all.

Her face was cold as he held her there- too cold. In all of the months he had spent with her… she was always warm. Warm and alive. She was always warm and alive and there. She was his Rory. His Rory that he loved despite his feelings for Lily. His Rory despite the feelings that Sirius was growing for her. Despite the fights that they had and despite the trauma that she had gone through.

His Rory.

And now she was gone.

I was planning on splitting this chapter into two but I figured I'd rather just get it all out now... before you all kill me. I've been planning this for a while and now it's finally... happened. Geez. There will be one more chapter. I promise that. Anyways- you guys are wonderful. Please REVIEW!